Countries

Thursday, 9 December 2010

Marshall Islands

One more card for today... and it's a new country, too! My first ever postcard from Marshall Islands, and it really does look pretty.

The Republic of the Marshall Islands is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. The islands are located north of Nauru and Kiribati, east of the Federated States of Micronesia, and south of the U.S. territory of Wake Island, to which it lays claim. The population is about 62,000. In 1986 independence was attained under a Compact of Free Association with the United States.

The country consists of 29 atolls and 5 isolated islands. The atolls and islands form two groups: the Ratak Chain and the Ralik Chain (meaning "sunrise" and "sunset" chains). 24 of them are inhabited.

The climate is hot and humid, with a wet season from May to November. The islands occasionally suffer from typhoons. Many Pacific typhoons start in the Marshall Islands region and grow stronger as they move west toward the Mariana Islands and the Philippines.

The stamp is from a set of 4 stamps issued earlier this year, depicting shells.